Ecuador’s embattled president said he received a pledge of aid from the U.S. to help contain the terror campaign by drug traffickers. Bonds rallied.
“We had a meeting with U.S. Ambassador Fitzpatrick yesterday afternoon after the decree and he said in a few days, 2-3 days, they’ll arrive in Ecuador with an assistance package,” President Daniel Noboa said Wednesday in an interview with radio network Canela.
A crackdown on drug trafficking triggered the war between gangs and the Ecuadorian state, Noboa said. The crisis erupted after a notorious drug trafficker vanished from his cell at the weekend.
Noboa, who took office six weeks ago, has declared a state of emergency and called out the army to try to rein in the cartels. They responded by organizing prison riots, storming a TV station, torching cars and taking police hostage.